Psalm 22: A Praising, Christ Centered Easter

Happy Early Easter! I Pray that each of you have a great Easter that is centered around Praise for Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection for US! I am once again sharing Psalm 22 with you this morning. Can you tell that I love this Psalm? As you read it, think about Jesus and what He did for us. I know that I am so undeserving and so, so unworthy of such a gift from my Father, the King! It is by my Savior's wounds that I am healed and I am just so grateful that He loved me enough to offer me such a wonderful, free gift of Salvation!

If you don't know Him as your Lord and Savior, I Pray that you will stop and meditate on this Psalm. Let is speak to your heart and really listen. This isn't just a story, but our Christ who walked this earth just as we are and gave His life just so we could have an eternal one with His Father, Our Father, The King!

Psalm 22

¹My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

²O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

³But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

⁴Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

⁵They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

⁶But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

⁷All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

⁸He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

⁹But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

¹⁰I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.

¹¹Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

¹²Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

¹³They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

¹⁴I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

¹⁵My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

¹⁶For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

¹⁷I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

¹⁸They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

¹⁹But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

²¹Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

²²I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

²³Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

²⁴For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

²⁵My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

²⁶The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

²⁷All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

²⁸For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.

²⁹All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

³⁰A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

³¹They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Just wanted to share the notes from my New Defender's Study Bible on this Psalm. These are such interesting notes and they really provide insight on these prophetic verses of scripture!

22:1 why hast thou forsaken me. Psalm 22 is an amazing prophetic description of the future crucifixion of God's Son. This psalm was written a thousand years before its fulfillment and described in graphic detail the sufferings of Christ on the cross, long before the method of crucifixion was known and practiced among the Jews and Romans. It opens with the central of the "seven words" from the suffering Savior: "Why?" (Ma 27:46). The other "seven words" are located in order: Luke 23:34; 23:43; John 19:26-27; John 19:28,30: and Luke 23:46.

22:2 night season. This evidently a reference to the supernatural three-hour darkness at the height of His sufferings (Mat 27:45).

22:3 thou art holy. Here is the reason for the darkness and the silence of God. God had made the sacrificial Lamb "to be sin for us" (2 Co 5:21), and a holy God could not "look on iniquity" (Hab 1:13).

22:6 worm. On the cross, the Lord Jesus called Himself a "scarlet worm." This same word refers to the worm from which the Israelites of that day obtained their red dyes and is usually translated "crimson" or "scarlet." The female worm of this species, when laying her eggs, affixes her body to a wood surface on which she will die after the young are born. The wood, her body, and the young are reddened with the death of the life-giving mother. In a similar image the Lord Jesus made "peace through the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:20).

22:8 let him deliver him. This was exactly the mocking cry of those enemies of Jesus around the cross who instigated His execution (Ma 27:43).

22:10 from the womb. Christ's miraculous conception and birth were unique among men. He did not need to be converted to God sometime after He was born, like other men with inherited sin-natures.

22:13 roaring lion. The picture seems to be one of an assembly of the wicked spirits of darkness gleefully prancing about His cross, waiting to swallow Him up - Satan, the roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), mighty bulls, and dogs and unicorns (22:12, 16, 21). These references could mean demon-controlled men, but are actually invisible powers of darkness. Nevertheless, "having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it there at "his cross" (Col 2:14-15).

22:14 it is melted. The awful sufferings of crucifixion involved the slow separation of the bone joints, the collapse of the heart cavity, and finally a gushing of both blood and water (Jo 19:34) when the soldier's spear pierced His side.

22:15 potsherd. A "potsherd" is a broken piece of pottery.

22:15 my tongue cleaveth. Indescribable thirst was induced in the midday sun (Jo 19:28).

22:16 dogs have compassed me. It is possible that the reference to "dogs" was a euphemism for a crowd of sodomites (De 23:17-18).

22:16 pierced my hands. The piercing of His hands and feet is a clear reference to the nails which affixed Him to the cross (note also Ze 12:10; 13:6; Jo 19:37; 20:25-28; Re 1:7).

22:18 cast lots upon my vesture. The unusual action of gambling for His cloak is prophesied here and is one of the very few events recorded in all four Gospels (Ma 27:35; Mk 15:24; Lk 23:34; Jo 19:24).

22:20 my darling. In the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, "darling" is monogenes, used in John 3:16 and elsewhere to identify Jesus as God's "only begotten" Son.

22:21 though hast heard me. At the very climax and completion of His sufferings, as He was about to be impaled on the mighty horns of the unicorns and swallowed by the ravening lion, the Father finally heard His cry, and delivered Him.

22:22 midst of the congregation. At this point in the psalm the theme suddenly changes from suffering to praise. The debt for sin has been fully paid, and our sin-bearer becomes our great praise-leader. His congregation at the foot of the cross was very small --His mother, John, and the other women. One day His praise would be in the midst of not just "two or three ... gathered together in my name" (Ma 18:20), but of "the great congregation" (22:25), "the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven" (He 12:23).

22:22 praise. It is strikingly significant that this first mention of the verb "praise" (Hebrew hallal) in the book of Israel's praises, as the Book of Psalms were called, is at Psalm 22:22. This surely seems more than coincidence, for twenty-two is the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The chapter and verse structure in the Book of Psalms, unlike the rest of the Bible, was there from the beginning. Thus, the very purpose of human language is to praise our Creator and Savior, and the great occasion of praise is His victory over sin and death on the cross.

22:25 great congregation. See also Psalm 35:18; 40:9-10; 149:1.

22:27 All the ends of the world. As a result of His work on the cross, His followers will be His witnesses "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Ac 1-8).

22:31 shall be born. As the great message is carried to "all the ends of the world" (22:27_, the spiritual "seed" (22:23, 30) that "shall be born" because of His death will testify "that he hath done this" --literally, that as He cried from the cross (Jo 19:30), "It is finished!"

Have a wonderful, Christ Praising Easter!

Ps. Share this Psalm and notes with someone you know!

Overcoming Persecution

2 Timothy 3:12-17 (King James Version)

¹²Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

¹³But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

¹⁴But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

¹⁵And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

¹⁷That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

The scriptures above tell us that when we live a Godly life, we will suffer persecution. This persecution may be physically, emotionally, socially, etc. We must realize this and not quit. Verse 14 tells us to continue on. This is something we must do as Christians. It is so hard to continue on when you feel as though you can't even get back up from the previous time, yet it is imperative to do so. When we stop, lay down on the job, we give satan the reigns for our lives. It gets tiresome but in the end, or I guess I should say the future since we as Christians have no end, it is worth it!

Verse 15 talks about knowing the holy scriptures from your childhood. I realize that not every one of us were taken to church and taught God's Word at home. I feel very fortunate and blessed that I was raised in church my entire life and that my parents consistently taught me God's Word. Maybe you didn't have that opportunity. But you can bestow such an opportunity to your children or little children around you. We may be the only Bible any of these children, or folks in general, ever read!

As many of you know, my heart greatly desires to have children, "to go forth and be fruitful." I know that God will give me the desires of my heart if I continue to earnestly ask for them and if they are for the right reasons. My reasoning is the fact that I truly cannot wait to teach my child/children about my Savior. I want to speak His name to my child daily and to be an example of Jesus' love. Until I am blessed with that opportunity, I Pray that I can demonstrate these things to my students. As a teacher in the public school system, we are not allowed to read from the Bible or have Prayer in our classrooms. However, my students know my heart and who holds it in it's entirety. When they have problems, they come to me and ask for Prayer. It truly is a beautiful thing! I Pray that I can always be a light to those around me, especially the young, pliable hearts of children!

Verses 16 and 17 speak of God's Word being inspired by Him and making the man of God "perfect and thoroughly furnished." I have always known that God's Word is totally inspired by Him but I really enjoyed reading the Greek meaning this morning in my New Defender's Study Bible. In the Greek, "Given by inspiration of God" is all one word, theopneustos, which means "God-breathed." Isn't that awesome? Can you just imagine God breathing on those men and their minds and bodies given total control to their Master to pen His Word? I Pray that God will "breathe" on my mind, spirit, heart, and body daily so that I can speak a word to those who may need it.

Lastly, I was curious when I read in verse 17 about God making His children "perfect and thoroughly furnished." Could we ever be perfect? Sure... when we are like Him. Here's what the notes from my awesome Bible states:

"3:17 perfect. The word used her for "perfect" (Greek artios) is found nowhere else in the New Testament. It seems basically to mean "new" or "fresh," which most expositors interpret as "complete." Perhaps, however, it refers to our ultimate perfection in Christ, when "we shall be like Him" (1 Jo 3:2), with all sin removed and the age-long effects of the curse taken away. He has promised, "Behold, I make all things new" (Re 21:5), and that must include us as well, even our bodies (Ph 3:20-21). We shall then, indeed, be as fresh and perfect as Adam was when he was first created -- even more so, as perfected in Christ. No doubt, the "man of God" shall be as perfect then as "the law of the Lord is perfect" now (Ps 19:7), for the Holy Scriptures are now, and will eternally be, our spiritual food (Ma 4:4; 24:35).

3:17 thoroughly furnished. "Thoroughly furnished" is one word in the Greek, meaning "completely equipped." We need nothing more that God's complete Word for our complete life."

Such an awesome message from God's Word in these appropriate times! God bless each of you!

Ephesians 4:14-16

Ephesians 4:14-16

14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

These verses ring so true in today's society. I have never heard of a society that is more easily persuaded than the one we are living in now. Folks are acting like children by believing anything they hear and being too lazy to actually research it to see if it is true. We, as Christians, are told to "Speak the truth in love" and that's exactly what we need to do. We are not here to condone false teachings or beliefs but to show everyone the right way and ONLY way to God... Jesus Christ. We are also to include each member in the body. No one is above someone else. We each work out our own Salvation (the salvation of our spirit not our soul because that Salvation is by grace) and we must work together for the good of the Lord. Together we can do things that we couldn't do alone. Together we can achieve and prosper in Jesus' name. Together we can see more and more people come to a Saving knowledge of our precious Savior.

Let these verses inspire you and guide you to give your walk with Christ everything that you have got to give. Let it inspire you to let go of pet sins and your past so that you can move on to an uplifting and productive future for Christ. I Pray this for each of us (me included). God bless each of you!

HoHum

Hi guys:

I am feeling very down-hearted today. My husband is sick and WILL NOT go to the doctor. I keep trying to make him go but he won't and he gets aggravated at me for bugging him about it. Please Pray for him to start feeling better. We aren't even sure what's wrong.

We had also put an offer in on some land in TN but that offer was rejected and we don't feel the need to go up anymore because the price the seller wants is way above what the land values at. Still, it did feel pretty exciting to think that we had found a place to place our roots as a family.

For those of you who don't ready my Infertility Blog, On the Outside Looking In, I am undergoing infertility treatments right now that consists of a newer drug than the Clomid I was on. I will also be taking an HCG shot sometime next week provided that my follicles are where they need to be (please Pray that they are). You can read a full post about this at my other blog mentioned above.

School has started back and I am already feeling pressure. On my birthday, August 21, we will be having visitors from the Kentucky State Department of Education at our school and in our classes. This is such tremendous pressure especially only 2 weeks after school has started back! Please Pray about that as well.

I guess the main reason I am down is the fact that I feel like I'm at a stand still and have been for some time. I know that we will put down roots and own our own home and have a baby eventually BUT I guess I am just really craving the excitement of all that. I know that God has a perfect time for everything in my life and I am trying my hardest to be patient and let Him work it out. Please, just Pray for me.

Ohhh the places my piggies will go...

Let me apologize that it has taken so long... Mike is probably gonna kill me for slowing the internet connection down tonight but I had to get these up. Some of these pics are blurry but I posted them anyway to go along with the beach story. Most of these are in order so you can see what we did from day 1 til the end. I will also be rolling some others on here as soon as I finish the film on the camera that I've been using since my anniversary and the water camera that I bought just for the pools and ocean. I really tried to capture some good ones in the ocean so I hope that they turned out ok. I'll post them regardless. Anyway... here is

Tha Beach 08

My luggage

My piggies in my living room floor the night before we left.

Mike filling out Mission letters for Africa the night before we left.

Hotel on the roof...... well on the 10th floor.

Mine and Momma's piggies by the pool on the first afternoon.

Rose by the pool.

Mom by the pool our first afternoon.

Us.

Me and my precious momma after traveling all day.

Mike, Billy, and Seth looking at the carp.

Carp!

Tina

Mom giving me a mean look HAHA

Us on our way back from the MB flea market.

ugh... I look awful... my hair air dried and I just pulled it back.

T-T-T-Tina....... looking good!

Tina and Mom... I love this picture!

Us waiting

Mike waiting for a ride on the elevator

Momma and her momma

Kim and Seth

Mamaw Rose

Kim, Momma, and Billy being goofy waiting on the elevator

Good friends :D

Seth is huge compared to his momma!

Us on the elevator

My rarely clean car!

View from parking garage

Squirrels at Outback

Jared's "birthday" icecream lol

Momma dancing a jig.

Check out the face haha

Mamaw and Mom layin' out.

The walkway to the beach from our hotel.

Our pool

Lazy river

The hot tub where we met our preacher pal Keith... what a shame though... we never got his last name or contact info. If anyone knows a Keith in his early 40's maybe that does construction and lives in Greenville, SC... let us know :D

Billy and Mom

Billy, momma, and mamaw

Mike and I.... I look so goofy in this pic... yuck!

Mike and I

My piggies at the pool!

Me laying out in the sun.... my favorite summer activity, even though I rarely get to!

Mike and I and our piggies in the hotel room before going out to eat.

again

www.sigmonwrestling.com ... Chuck and Pamilicious

The ocean.......... from the walkway at nite.

Sand squid!

My husband's favorite thing to do at the beach.

Baby fishy!

Beautiful waves at night!

Sand flea.... eww

Sand flea burrowing into the sand as Tina and I shiver lol

Baby fishy

again

Random little girl with a crab she caught ... we caught one like this 2 nites before but didn't get a pic of it.

again

again

teany, tiny fishy

ocean at nite

frothy!

My piggies in the waves at nite!

My piggies in the sand at nite!

What'd ya find Mikey?

Our hotel from the beach at night

Tina on the beach with Mike and I.

Tina on the phone worried about Sheryl.... she is doing much better by the way. Please everyone keep her in Prayer still.

Fishy

Were these here last year? Love 'em.

Crab

Crab pinching Mike.

Hi, I'm Crabby Mike HEHE

Momma through my fogged out lens!

Me and Momma getting our tan on.

again... I am so blessed!

Tina and Kim layin' out.

Not sure but some sort of marker or something in the ocean.

Kite! It sure was a good day for them.

Hurts my knees even now to look down from the 12th floor.

The city of Myrtle Beach.

Jess... I was thinking of you when I took this pic. You needed these air units that week didn't ya?

Momma tired.

Rose

Little kitchen... we missed last years hotel and will probably be going back to it next time.

Me, Billy, and Mike surfin the waves.

Me after a big one. This is my most favorite thing to do at the beach.

TIRED!

Baby brother!

Boogie Boarding! Don't eat me sharks!

Mike hiding behind the date LOL

Seth!

Oh no... Billy sees a shark. JK

Hot!

BFF!

Rosie, Tina, Kim

Mother and son

Jess ... here's your hotel.

Puttin' my feet up after the long drive home!

Decent tan .... pics from the day after the long drive home.

And........... the piggies are resting safely in momma and daddy's SX4 on a weekly Corbin Walmart trip : ) I love my life!